France, Germany initiate creation of €500B EU economic recovery fund

“We need a fund for restoration, and Germany and France have had intensive discussions about how such a fund might look like. This is aimed at ensuring that Europe cohesively and jointly emerges from this crisis. We know that the virus has affected our countries in different ways, and there is a threat of EU cohesion in terms of the impact of this virus on the economy,” the German Chancellor said at a joint press conference.

“We are experiencing the worst crisis in the history of the European Union,” Angela Merkel said. “The virus knows no boundaries and has affected all of Europe,” Emmanuel Macron added. According to both leaders, Paris and Berlin are interested in a strong European Union, and therefore came up with such an initiative. However, it is not the two European heavyweights to decide where the money will be sent, but the European Commission: as an example, the French president cited the tourism industry in Italy as one of the most affected sectors. The list of industries in need of assistance is expected to be detailed in Brussels. At the same time, Europeans will have to think about how to invest in areas such as high technology or environmental safety in order to remain a competitive region of the world in the future, and not just catch up during the pandemic.

source: theguardian.com